LOWKEY | LIVE REVIEW
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Thurs 18 Apr
“Free free Palestine” is not a chant you would necessarily expect to hear chanted within the somewhat sticky walls of Clwb Ifor Bach, or any venue in Cardiff. But that’s the reaction that has come to be expected of Lowkey, with his thought-provoking lyricism and hard hitting tracks. For nearly two decades, Lowkey has remained one of the most profound MCs (and activists) in UK hip-hop, and proved why this is the case to the avid Cardiff audience.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t intellectual, politically-driven writing that was most impressive about Lowkey’s performance: his versatility proved the most pleasant surprise. His ability to switch genres, tone and tempo from track to track keeps you on your feet. The set kicked off with boom-bap classics from Lowkey’s deep catalogue, notably crowd favourite My Soul. His repertoire was well and truly flexed, with everything from 140bpm grime tracks, singalong boom-bap and conscious rap.
The London-based MC took us from the issues with race and multiculturalism in the UK with Islamaphobic Lullabies, to a frank talk on the Grenfell Tower fire, all the way to an alphabetic based a capella rap that truly made me believe he doesn’t need to breathe. All of this with a clear, enunciated delivery, as though Lowkey doesn’t want you to miss the message or the intricacies of his wordplay along the way.
In the world of MCs, there are those that seek fame (or to broaden their audience, depending on how you view it) and those that want to focus on the morality of their music and remain in the underground. Lowkey is more towards the latter than the former, and this evening he proved why we need those MCs to remain in the game.
words CAMPBELL PROSSER
